State reveals ways public can help combat fatal deer illness

State wildlife officials say like most baby animals, people should leave fawns alone.

Wochit

A new strategy to keep a disease fatal to white-tailed deer and related species from gaining a foothold in New York state involves tightening regulations and more robust public involvement.

Officials from the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Agriculture and Markets announced the new inter-agency chronic wasting disease risk minimization plan during a news conference Wednesday at the Southern Tier Welcome Center on Interstate 81 in Kirkwood.

A pair of Southern Tier hunters heads into the woods for opening day of deer season in this file ...more

A pair of Southern Tier hunters heads into the woods for opening day of deer season in this file photo.

FILE PHOTO

The new plan is designed to protect both wild deer and moose herds in New York, as well as captive cervids (mammals of the deer family) held at enclosed facilities.

“This important plan streamlines operations and proposes strong actions to prevent the introduction of CWD, and is the result of a strong partnership effort of sporting groups, deer farmers, and other stakeholders," said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos.

The plan calls on the public to be more vigilant. Among the recommendations for hunters and residents:

Report sick or abnormally behaving deer.

Do not feed wild deer.

Dispose of carcasses properly at approved landfills.

Report violators.

Use alternatives to urine-based lures or use synthetic forms of deer urine.

The strategy also calls for joint inspections of cervid farms and increased record sharing among agencies.

It will prohibit the importation of certain parts from any CWD-susceptible cervid taken outside of New York and includes specific restrictions on what will be allowed into the state.

For example, under the plan, hunters who harvest deer in other states will only be allowed to import the deboned meat, cleaned skull cap, antlers with no flesh adhering, raw or processed cape or hide, cleaned teeth or lower jaw, and finished taxidermy products into New York.

Chronic wasting disease, a fatal brain disease found in certain species of the deer family, was discovered in Oneida County wild and captive white-tailed deer in 2005.

More than 49,000 deer have been tested statewide since 2002, and there have been no recurrences of the disease since 2005, according to DEC. New York is still the only state to have eliminated CWD once it was found in wild populations, DEC officials said.

Chronic wasting disease was first identified in Colorado in 1967, and is caused by infectious prions (misfolded proteins) that cannot be broken down by the body’s normal processes. These prions cause holes to form in the brain.

The illness is in the same family of diseases — transmissible spongiform encephalopathies — as “mad cow” disease in cattle.

In North America, the disease has been found in 24 states and three Canadian provinces, including neighboring Pennsylvania and Ohio.

"CWD is an ecological disaster unfolding before our eye. There is no doubt that CWD threatens the future of wildlife conservation in Pennsylvania," said Bryan Burns, executive director of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. "We applaud the New York DEC and Ag & Markets for their proactive efforts to develop a CWD risk minimization plan to reduce the opportunity for this dreaded disease to become established in New York."

New York hunters killed fewer deer in 2017 than the year before.

New York hunters killed fewer deer in 2017 than the year before.

Rick Marsi / Correspondent photo

DEC biologists worked with Department of Agriculture and Markets veterinarians and wildlife health experts from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University to craft the comprehensive set of disease prevention measures.

There are also economic reasons for protecting the deer herd from chronic wasting disease.

New York state ranks sixth in the nation in white-tailed deer hunting, with more than 575,000 hunters harvesting an average of 210,000 deer each year.

Between 900,000 and 1 million white-tailed deer roam New York's fields and forests. Deer hunting represents a $1.5 billion industry in the state.

"These are critical actions to help protect New York state's deer and moose populations," said state Sen. Tom O'Mara, R-Big Flats, chairman of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee.

"White-tailed deer are highly valued by all residents and our most popular game species," said Chuck Parker, president of the New York State Conservation Council. "Preventing CWD from becoming established ensures a healthy herd into the future.”